


Stop and Smell the Roses

by ClaireKat



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Prompt Fill, i actually just need to get my fanfic POSTED but anyway, i have so many rwby things i need to write, i'm rambling ignore this, this is pretty damn fluffy, this was pretty cute i'm ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 12:54:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5666791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireKat/pseuds/ClaireKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Blake never thought she could love again until she met a certain blonde monkey-faunus."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stop and Smell the Roses

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prompt fill from my writing blog. I actually really like the BlackSun ship and I was so happy to get a prompt for it! I'm really into RWBY right now and I love the characters and I hope that I did okay writing them for the first time. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

The day was slowly shifting to dusk as Blake sat at the end of the dock, kicking her feet and staring down at her rippling reflection in the murky water. She rubbed the satin strip of fabric resting in her fingers, unable to pinpoint exactly why she felt convicted to remove her bow considering for all the time she had had it she was reluctant to remove it. Her heart ached and the noises of the city echoed in her ears, distracting her from the cacophonous thoughts that rattled in her head. Her heart beat like a sledgehammer, her hands and ears trembling in response; at least the ears she had that could. Swift snippets of memory replaying the kiss that still lingered on her lips blazed through her mind and she clenched her hands and eyes shut, the weight of the emotions clunking around in her chest exceeding the limit she was capable of maintaining composure with. 

Why was she so surprised that she felt this way? Why was she so distraught? Why did she assume the feelings that made her heart beat out of rhythm and brought an uncommon flush to her cheeks were negative? Perhaps it was because she had decided that she didn’t deserve a happy future. Perhaps it was because the only positive emotions she was capable of feeling, or permitted herself to, were pride in her teammates and a strong drive to accomplish her goals. Then again, the sensations that distracted her thoughts now, worried her and startled her and almost sent her into a panic...they weren’t wholly unfamiliar to her. Blake had known the warm, soothing, giddy sensation of love once before - and after that unfortunate series of events, she had sworn she would never allow herself to fall into such unsightly, vulnerable territory again.

But all of this wasn’t even really her fault! It wasn’t like Blake had gone out of her way to spend time with that obnoxious, excitable Faunus boy that always seemed to show up right when she was thinking she’d like to see him. No, she never sought him out, she had never even told him how often she really thought about him, how often his shining visage illuminated her heavy, gloomy, self-destructive thoughts. Every time she started to doubt herself, started to fall off of the path that she had been struggling so hard to repave in order to continue building a better future, his hand would be the one that caught her and brought her back into the light. Was this really love, or was she just growing too dependent on the comfort that the luxury of a friend, a close acquaintance, a warm and humorous and charming boy offered her? 

Blake had taken that kind of solace in another man not all that long ago; the fragmented, jagged memory still cut at her psyche when she dared to dive back in, attempting to fish out any of the redeemable pieces of the relationship that had sustained her for so long. Sometimes she allowed herself to question whether or not she had made the right call in that blood red forest, standing on that train where she was sure she had left an unspoken part of herself; a part that she missed all the same. Was she right or fair in forsaking everything she had once stood for, everything that she would have defended with her own life without an inkling of hesitation and with all her might? She might never be able to come to a satisfactory conclusion, but she couldn’t deny that now, surrounded by the people that she was, she didn’t really have the conviction or the belief that she would ever consider going back.

That chapter of her life had been closed and burned, by her own hand if no one else’s, and she wasn’t eager to try to piece the ashes back together for the sake of sentimentality or self-doubt. No, Blake had bigger problems to consider and an increasingly complex puzzle to solve; the puzzle of her heart. Was she really ready to accept someone else into it, was she prepared to allow someone to get that close to her again? 

Whether she had consented to it or not, Sun Wukong had become an irreplaceable part of her life by his own tenacity. He wasn’t doing it because he felt like he had to; he genuinely appreciated Blake. He was always there to banish the painful thoughts of her past and encourage her to keep moving forward. Even if he wasn’t able to understand exactly where she was coming from, or didn’t quite realize the depth of the story or anecdote she had absently decided to share with him, he always listened with an intent and focus that, on occasion, was known to bring the same flush to her cheeks that gently colored them now.

She sighed and scratched the back of her head, stretching her arms out as she pinched her ribbon between her fingers and watched it flutter carelessly in the sea breeze. She didn’t have the time or the energy to try and decipher all of these confusing, complicated, exhausting emotions right now. She had too many other important things on her mind, some of them pertaining to school, some of them pertaining to her team; what gave her the right to take any of the time required for all of that out to do some soul searching for herself? But she also wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to sleep tonight with the thoughts of that ridiculous boy’s lips pressed timidly against hers.

It had been so out of the blue, so unexpected...to her at least. Now that she was analyzing the situation, she really should have picked up on the cues sooner, should have been able to discern what his ulterior motive had been when he had asked her to help him with some training this afternoon. Sun and the rest of his team were only staying at Beacon throughout the period of the Vytal Festival Tournament so that they could participate, and doing some much needed training made more than enough sense to Blake. She hadn’t questioned why he had asked her, an underlying vibe of vanity adding to her blindness. Plus, getting to practice in a friendly sparring atmosphere as opposed to training alone in the gym or actually dealing with the rampant crime that Blake and her team had seemed to be unable to avoid these past few days only affirmed her conclusion that Sun’s request was perfectly logical, reasonable, simple. 

As it turned out, the whole thing had apparently been a hopeful set up for his confession, his wordless admittance of affection. She gripped her head in her hands as again and again the feeling, the image, the memory of their gentle, sickly sweet and tender kiss plagued her mind. Blake was sure she hadn’t experienced such a moment of gentleness and peace in Sun’s presence as she had when he had breached such an interaction with her, letting his guard down as he attempted to approach a new threshold with her. Part of her wanted to label the threshold as taboo, but she knew it was foolish to try and discount that natural foundation and evolution of his feelings. Part of her wanted to downplay his feelings by writing them off as misplaced Faunus infatuation. There were so few of them...at least so few inhabiting the cities, in the kingdoms, ones that  _ weren’t  _ with the White Fang. So many Faunus had been so disheartened by the discrimination and the hand that they had been dealt by so many inconsiderate, insufferable humans...even Blake had taken to denying who she was, all of who she was, out of a fear that she would be forced to suffer as she had before. 

Sun wasn’t afraid of those kinds of trivialities, though; if he was, he did a wonderful job at concealing these insecurities. And she knew it was childish to conclude that his crush on her was entirely because of the part of her that she was eager to downplay; Sun wasn’t the type of person to be driven by something so shallow and petty, and he had been so sensitive and considerate for her feelings on the manner he hardly ever brought up the subject of anything Faunus related. He would only discuss such matters with Blake if she brought them up herself. She sighed and re-tied the bow around her ears before resting her head on her knees, turning her gaze from the glassy surface of the water to the waning glow of the sunset. 

Should she go back and apologize for running off? Should she wait until tomorrow and try to figure out the proper rite of contrition for her unsightly reaction? She began to worry now that after all he had done for her, her surprise and subsequent fleeing from the scene would communicate to him a message that she hadn’t intended. Blake  _ did  _ like Sun...he made her feel warm, and happy, and strong. He conjured feelings in her that hadn’t stirred since the time she had spent with the only other person she would ever really consider having loved in such a way in her life. She was grateful for that. She was curious as to why and how and when he was able to start repairing the broken heart that she thought she would bear in her chest for the rest of her conceivable future. 

Blake hadn’t left the White Fang, or the familiar comfort of her budding feelings, in hopes of finding something new to replace them. Blake had struck off on her own path out of conviction, out of a moral drive to make the world a better place for everyone, rather than attempting to fight and hoard the good parts all for herself. The fact that she had met Sun, that Sun had become so dear to her, that Sun had decided that he wanted to fight at her side and provide whatever support he could, was completely unforeseen. The way that he offered to serve as a springboard whenever she needed something to help her keep moving forward rather than a gate or a wall to protect her while also restricting her abilities, wishes, and growth, was touching in way that she was sure she’d never be able to put into words. 

Then again, Sun hadn’t needed words to communicate the depth of his feelings for her. He had never said a word about his feelings, but he hadn’t necessarily been silent either. A wink here, a brush against her arm there, a pat on her head, a supportive holding of her hand, a wistful kiss pressed against her lips; Sun had been communicating the depth of his feelings all along, but Blake had been too distracted by her own ambitions to notice. That was all right, though; she knew that Sun didn’t mind. She knew that he only wanted what was best for her, and he would never take offence or feel downtrodden simply because she was focusing on her direct course rather than the beautiful flowers that decorated the sides of the road every now and then. But Blake was ready to stop and smell the roses now; she was ready to face this new dawn head on. 


End file.
